My profile

Biography

Practitioner roles

My work as an applied psychology practitioner has allowed me to translate my research to the real-world through consultancy work across athletic (e.g., the FA), occupational (e.g., SONY), and military settings (e.g., RAF, SAS). I have translated my research to service users delivering funded consultancy projects in elite sport (The FA, Scarlets Rugy) and business (e.g., SONY, Davies Group) settings.

Community, charity and NGO links

My engagement with governing bodies has deepened as I have reviewed for and published in the BASES-published Journal of Sports Sciences, lead the Research Working Groups initiative as part of the BPS DSEP Committee, and I was Chair of the BPS West Midlands Branch for 3 years, conference lead for 2 years, and then Treasurer for 2 years. As well as being on the scientific committee for two BPS DSEP conferences, I also Chaired the first Staffordshire University Performance Psychology Conference in 2016 (BPS CPD approved).

Prizes and awards

I received the Albert Ellis award for research in 2018 from the Albert Ellis Institute, New York, to recognise the impact of my Frontiers paper “Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), irrational and rational beliefs, and the mental health of athletes”. This paper is in the top 1% of read articles in Frontiers (> 70,000 views) and has been cited over 30 times.

I also recieved the 2013 PhD of the year award from The BPS Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology, and won best thesis and highest acadamic profile awards for my MSc studies.

In 2019, the Association for Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (AREBT) presented me with the Outstanding Achievement Award for my work in the field, and bestowed upon me an Academic Fellowship of the AREBT. 

Membership of professional associations

Fellow of Association for Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (AREBT), November 2019-ongoing

EuroPsy, European Federation of Psychologists’ Association, August 2016-ongoing

Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, British Psychological Society, May 2015-ongoing

Chartered Sport and Exercise Psychologist, British Psychological Society, May 2013-ongoing

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Higher Education Academy, May 2012-ongoing

Chartered Scientist British Association of Sport and Exercise Science, September 2013-ongoing

Accredited Sport and Exercise Scientist British Association of Sport and Exercise Science, September 2013-ongoing; Re-accredited October 2018-ongoing

HCPC Registered Practitioner Psychologist, Health and Care Professions Council, November 2012-ongoing

Personal website address

www.drmartinturner.com

Projects

My work is centered on the study and application of rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT) in performance contexts such as sport, exercise, health, work, school, and military. My current projects concern:

- The development of psychometrics for irrational beliefs, and emotion regulation. 

- The development and application of digital resources to facilitate access to REBT content. 

- The application of REBT within demanding settings, examined using controlled trials, experimental protocols, and single-case designs. 

- The examination of psychophysiological responses to stress, including challenge and threat states. 

Teaching

Why study…

Psychological stress is ubiquitous in achivement settings (e.g., sport, work, exercise military), and can both hinder and help people in reaching their goals. Therefore, studying how people adapt to stress is important, so that we can inform and implement effective strategies that help people fulfil thier potential.  

Subject areas

Adaptation to Psychological Stress

Supervision

I supervise PhD students studying the theory of rational emotive behaviour therapy as applied within achievement settings, challenge and threat psychophysiological states on approach to pressure, and how social processes influence the human stress responses.

Research outputs

My main expertise is within the scientific understanding of human performance and wellbeing under pressure and adversity, and the application of psychology within achievement settings. My work centres on the psychophysiology of stress, emotion management using cognitive-behavioural approaches (rational emotive behavior therapy; REBT), and the transference of research to practice through consultancy. These three main areas of focus inform my teaching at all levels, my collaboration with external partners, and my engagement with the wider public and academic community.

Most of my current projects involve the examination of REBT in performance settings. This includes measure development and refinement, applied work drawing on single-case designs, and theoretical advancements. Chiefly, I am interested in how REBT can be used with performers across many domains to promote psychological wellbeing and mental health for the benefit of short and long-term performance. I am the recipient of the 2018 Albert Ellis Award for Research for my paper on the use of REBT to promote mental health in athletes.

My work also examines the tenets of, and practically applies, the Theory of Challenge and Threat States in Athletes. This includes psychophysiological testing to understand the biological associates of adaptive (challenge) and maladaptive (threat) approaches to pressure. My PhD examine the link between challenge and threat states and task performance, for which I received the 2013 BPS DSEP PhD Award.

To compliment my publication record, I have written two popular psychology books, have contributed numerous book chapters to academic texts, and co-edited a landmark book on the use of REBT in sport and exercise (Routledge). My work in REBT has led to various invited talks, Associate Editorial positions (Frontiers in Psychology, and Effective Scientist-Practitioner), and my work as an applied psychology practitioner has allowed me to translate my research to the real-world through consultancy work across athletic (e.g., the FA), occupational (e.g., SONY), and military settings (e.g., RAF).

My work in REBT has led to the development of a Smartphone App (The Smarter Thinking 2 App), and the development of a website (www.thesmarterthinkingproject.com). I have also developed a profiling website (www.smarterthinkingprofile.com) using the psychometric I developed with colleagues in 2016 (irrational Performance Beliefs Inventory). To promote the work, I commissioned a video about Smarter Thinking (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeX-f3DULSs).

Career history

November 2019

Outstanding Achievement Award: Association for Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (AREBT)

June 2018

Albert Ellis award for research: Albert Ellis Institute, New York

December 2013

PhD of the year award: BPS Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology

Press and media

Media appearances or involvement

Getting my research across to as many people as possible has always been a goal of mine. I developed a public-facing website (www.thesmarterthinkingproject.com ) to help distribute updates about my research, and the work of my colleagues. The site also provides an outlet for early career researchers through Blog posts. Also, I have written many Blogs in order to get my work out to wider audiences. For example, I was interviewed for Forbes.com across three Blogs, achieving 106,000+ reads. I engage in radio and video interviews frequently, and have been featured on BelievePerform the UKs largest performance psychology website. I was interviewed by prominent sport psychologist Dan Abrahams about my work in REBT, and I have been featured in prominent business magazines and websites such as Inc.com, Entrepreneur.com, The CEO, CEO Magazine, and The Batten Group.

I have had 5 articles published on The Conversation, covering topics such as performance pressure, stress, running addiction, which was also translated into Spanish. These pieces had 169,000+ reads in total and have led to coverage in print (e.g., The Times, Express, Metro), digital (e.g., The Independent), radio (e.g., BBC Radio Stoke, Talk Radio), and television (e.g., Good Morning Britain) media. I have also published in Psychreg.org concerning exam stress. I have also had numerous pieces published in The Psychologist, the industry magazine. My radio appearances led to being an expert on a special show on sport psychology with Dominic Dietrich (BBC Radio) and Liam Lawrence (ex-professional footballer).